Water heating apparatus



my m, 1935. Q. c. RAMSDELL ET m.

WATER HEATING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 3, 1952 aY B Patented July 16, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Gilbert & Barker `Manufacturing Company, West Springfield, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application August 3, 1932, serial No. 627,308

' 5 claims.

This invention relates to improvements in water heating apparatus.

The improvements of this invention are directed to apparatus of the same general type as disclosed in the John F. Barker Patent No. 1,089,813, granted March 10, 1911i.A As therein shown, a water tank, of the type known as a kitchen boiler, is encompassed by an insulated casing, leaving an annular space between the casing and boiler, which serves as a iue to` carry off the products of combustion from an oil or other form of burner, placed beneath and heating the base of the tank.

The general objects of the invention areV to provide a generally improved apparatus of the general type deiined; to provide means for securing greatly improved operating e'lciency, whereby a much larger percentage of the heat units in the fuel consumed are utilized in raising the temperature of the water; and to incorporate into the apparatus means by which it is made quickly responsive, whereby hot waterin limited vo-lume is quickly available.

These and other objects will best appear as the detailed description proceeds and will Vbe pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention will be disclosed with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which,'

Fig. 1 is a perspective view,.partly in section, of the apparatus;

' Figs. 2 and`3 are fragmentary sectionalele'vational views of the upper and lower portions, respectively, of the apparatus;

Fig. 4 is a sectional plan view, taken on the 35' line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a sectional View of one of the door hinges, showing the oil feed connections therewith;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan view of the burner support showing the levelling means for the burner; and

Eig. 7 is a sectional View taken on the line l--l of Fig. 6. y

Referring to Fig. 1 `of the drawing, a cylindrical tank I 0, such as an ordinary kitchen boiler, is mounted with its axis vertically disposed within an insulated casing. Such 'casing (see also Fig. 3) consists of a base VI I, supporting outer and inner cylindrical shellsIZ and I3, respectively, the` space between these shells being filled with heat insulating material I4.' Surmounting the outer shell I2 is a ring l5 upon which is mounted a second outer shell I5 of smaller diameter.

The top of shell I 6 isclosed by a cap n. Within sneu is is an inner sneu la of about the same diameter as the shell I3 and of a diameter somewhat larger than that of tank I8, whereby an annular iue I 9 is formed between the shell i8 and tank. This shell I8 extends only to the `dome of tank l@ and, near its upper end, is connected to a radial outlet pipe 28' (see Fig. 2). The space betweenshells it and I8 and the space between the cap l and the dome of tank I8 is packed with heat insulating matel rial 2|. f f

Cold water is supplied to tank i8 by way of a pipe 22, which enters the upper end of the tank and extends downwardly therein to a point only a few inches above the bottom of the tank. Hot water is drawn from the tank by way of a pipe 23, connected to the upper end thereof. A pipe 24 extends vertically downwardly for a short distance from the bottom of the tank and connects witha special fitting 25, to one outlet of'whioh a pipe 26 is connected. Pipe 26 extends outwardly through shells I2 and I3 and atits outer end is provided with a faucet 21, which, when opened, allowsfany sediment collecting in the lower portion of the coil`28 as well as in the bottomof the tank to be drawn off. Ifo the other branch of fitting' 25, a tube 28 is'connected and this is wound in spiral form with several convolutions disposed beneath the base of tank Il) and other convolutions wrapped around the periphery of the'tank and disposed in the flue I9. This tube 28 closely ts the inner shell I8 andl the outer wall of tank- I8 and forms a balile for the flue I9. The upper end of tube 28 isk connected to pipe 23.` The tube 28 also serves to. conduct'cooler, water from the base of tank I Il in a path such as to be heated by the burner to be described and eventually delivered to the upper end of the tank. Thevr tank I0 is supported by three legs 2S (shownin plan sectionv in Fig. 4 and one of which isshown iin elevation in Fig. 3). These legs are securedl` at their upper ends to tank i0 andtheir lower ends rest upon a ring 3D, which is supported by columns 3| from the base II. This ring 38, which also serves to `support shell I8, is provided with a channel 32 in its upper face to receive and collect any. condensation drippings falling from4 the rim of tank lo, lwhichfrim it underlies.

The lower and larger section of the casing is pro-vided with a door 33, supported by hinges 34. and provided with a latching handle 35 for engagement in a catch 36, fixed to shell I2. This door, like the casing, has a metallicshell 31 (Fig.` 4) lled with insulating material 38. Fixed to the inner face` of the door is a bracket 39,'which supports a burner 40 of the well known perforated combustion tube type. Beneath the burner and resting on the floor is a drip pan 4I (Fig. l). When the door is opened, the burner 40 may be swung completely out of the casing forcenvenient inspection, adjustment or repair.' Normally, it lies in substantially centralized relation within, the heat insulated casing and below the bottom of tank Il).

Fuel is supplied to the burner in any suitable way. As shown,V a constant level reservoir 42,;

supplied with oil from an inverted bottle 43, is provided,-both these elements being supported from a floor stand M. Oil is conveyed from-fres-` ervoir 42 by a pipe l5 toavalve 45` and thence by a pipe 5l', which enters the upper end of the lower hinge in an axial direction through la .suit-` able stuing box All?. This hinge has a chamber 49 which receives the oil from pipe 4land from which the oil is delivered to a pipe 5B. The latter passes through the door and is connected to. the burner as indicated.

l A number o holes 5l are provided in door 33 near its lower edge' to admit the necessary air supply for burner 40. The oil pipe 5U is arranged above these holes and in the path of the entering air, whereby the oil pipe Vis kept cool.

For levelling up the burner, the adjustable mounting shown in Fig. '7 is provided; rl'l'he free' end of'bracket 35 has a vertical socket 52 formed therein to receive the standard 53 oi burner 49. The upper part 5:1 of'ths socket is counterbored to alarger diameter and passing through the wall ofsuch portion are three set screws 55, the inner ends oiwhich bear against the standard 555. The lower end of the standard may have a hemispherical end which rests in the base of socket 52, The standard .'isrits loosely in this socket and can be movedwithin a sufficient range by adjustment of the set screws 55. to levelup the base o f burner d0;

It Willbe understood by those skilled in the art that any suitable kind ofy burner may` be used in the apparatus describedand'that there are available in the market various appliances,

whereby the burnerI maybe automatically lighted these appliances, being old'and well known in" the art, have not beenillustrated but it. will be Vunderstood that they may be used, if and when desired.

In operation, the burnermay be lighted man,- ually by swinging open the door 33 or itmay have', as above described, automatic lighting DrOyisions as well as provisions, whereby the burner vwill, automatically start up, whenever thev need for it When door '33 is closed, the burner underlies and-heats the base of tank il) inthe samegeneral manner as disclosedin the aforesaid patent. In addition, the heat from the burner is applied to, the coil 28, and the cooler water taken from the baseY of the tank and passing` through4 this coilH is quickly heated andv delivered to the upper part rof thetank, or. asV shownnto the hot water service pipe. In this way, the old form of apparatus is made quickly responsiveand given, in part at least, the characteristicsof an instantaneous heater. The coil also promctes a rapidcirculation of water from thibottom` to the topv of the, tank Ijand expedites theheating of its contents.l In addition, the Yfreecirculationr of Water thus secured .reduces thelikelihood orfjthe formation and deposit of sediment in the tank anducoil.VVV This coilalso serves as a baffle in the annular ue of the apparatus and retards the passage of the Vproducts of combustion therethrough. The gasesA are made to travel around the tank I3 in a path ofr considerable length, whereby to eectively utilize the heat therefrom for useful work in raising the temperature of the water.'`

The coil 28, as will be clear from the drawing, is so disposed that the greater part of its length is located near the lower part of the apparatus. A substantial part of the coil is subjected to the heat of the burner to secure the quick heating feature. a baille and its convolutions are o varying pitch, increasing more and more rapidly in the direction of upward travel. The arrangement provides for the maximum heat exchange between the flue gases and the water in tank le at the lo-V cation where it is most needed. The hottest gases are at the base of the flue and the coldest water is at the base of the tank. As the `gases travel upward they become cooler and cooler and the water in tank il) becomes hotter and hotter until a point is reached where the gases can no longer liberate any heat to the water. At this point the outlet 2t is located. If the gases traveled any higher, they would be taking heat from the water in the tank, which of course is not desired. Y

As an example, on a test'of an apparatus of the type disclosed, the temperature or" 25 gallons of water was raised from 60 Fahr. to 140 Fahr. in one hour with a fuel consumption of one and one-half pints of range oil'. A small amount of hot water was Very quickly available'and in fifteen minutes four gallons of hot water was available. The effective utilization ofthe heat from the burner is evidenced by the fact that the exhaust gases were no more than ten degrees `hotter than the water in the upper portion of the tank. The test showed the high operating efficiency of eighty per cena-that is, eighty per cent of the heat units inthe oil consumed were absorbed by the water.

Thus We have provided' an Vimproved Water heating system of high operating eiilciency with provisions for quickly heating small volumes of water tol secure the desirable instantaneous feature.

What we claim is:

1. A hot water heating apparatus; comprising, a tank, a heat insulating casing surrounding. the tankin spaced concentrical relation therewith leaving an annular passage therebetween, a burner below the tank and within the lower part ofsaidcasingsaid.passage having an outlet throughthe Vcasing nearitsupper end and serving as a flue to carry away the products of combustion from the burner, and a water coil connectedat one end" to thelovver part of'said'tankand at the other end to the upper part of said tank, said coil having convolutions disposed below the tank and adjacent the burner and other convolutions 4 wrapped around the tank and closely itting said The remainder acts as` from the burner, and a water coil connected at one end to the lower part of said tank and at the other end to the upper part of said tank, said coil having convolutions disposed below the tank and adjacent the burner and other convolutions wrapped around the tank and closely fitting said passage whereby to retard the passage of the products of combustion in their travel from the burner to said outlet, the convolutions of said coil adjacent the burner having an internal diameter greater than the diameter of the burner to prevent condensation drippings from the coil from entering the burner.

3. A hot water heating apparatus, comprising, a tank, a heat insulating casing surrounding the tank in spaced concentrical relation therewith leaving an annular passage therebetween, a burner below the tank and within the lower part of said casing, said passage having an outlet through the casing near its upper end and serving as a flue to carry away the products of combustion from the burner,vand a water coil connected at one end to the lower part of said tank and at the other end to the upper part of said tank, said coil having convolutions disposed below the tank and adjacent the burner and other convolutions Wrapped around the tank and closely fitting said passagewhereby to retard the passage of the products of combustion in their travel from'the burner to said outlet, the convolutions of said coil disposed in said passage being more closely spaced near the lower portion than in the upper portion thereof.

4. A hot water heating apparatus, comprising, a Y

tank, a heat insulating casing surrounding the tank in spaced concentrical relation therewith leaving an annular passage therebetween, a burner below the tank and within the lower part of said casing, said passage having an outlet through the casing near its upper end and serving as a iiue to carry away the products of combustionV from the burner, and a water coil connected at one end to the lower part of said tank and at the other end to the upper part of said tank, said coil having convolutions disposed below the tank and adjacent the burner and other convolutions wrapped around the tank and closely fitting said passage whereby to retard the passage of the products of combustion in their travel from the burner to said outlet, said outlet located below the top of the tank and at the point Where said products are no longer effective to liberate heat to the water in said tank. y

5. In a water heating and storage system the combination with a hot water storage tank, of a heating coil connected to the top of said tank extending along the side of the tank and a substantial distance below the tank, a heater below said coil, a pipe connection from the bottom of the tank to a source of water supply, and a housing for said tank and coil, said coil being of greater pitch adjacent the tank than below the said tank.'

CHARLES C. RAMSDELL. DONALD C. ELLIOT. 

